Thursday, 17 August 2017

Tourism players should be able to market the $260 million Tokwe-Mukosi Dam in Chivi through attaching President Mugabe’s name to the project so that its legacy lives to eternity, former Secretary for Tourism and Hospitality Industry Dr Sylvester Maunganidze has said.The 1,8 billion cubic-metre dam was commissioned by President Mugabe on May 18 amid pop and funfair.The dam is shared by almost half between Masvingo and Chivi districts. The reservoir, which is at about 72 percent capacity now, can irrigate 25 000 hectares of land when full.Speaking during a tour of the dam by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) recently, Dr Maunganidze said for the dam to have a legacy, it should be named after President Mugabe. He said once the name was attached to the dam, its legacy would live beyond many generations.

He said it took the iconic nature of President Mugabe for a structure in the country to have a meaning because he had played a valuable role behind its construction and subsequent completion.Dr Maunganidze said people of Chivi would feel happy if the dam was attached to the person of President Mugabe by those entrusted to market it.“The media has a role to market the monumental structure in the mould of Tokwe-Mukosi Dam,” he said. “For it to have meaning, a human face should be attached to the dam. My prayer is for the dam to be named after President Robert Mugabe.”Dr Maunganidze called on ZTA to make President Mugabe a tourist attraction by attaching his name to the dam. “Very few people know what this dam means, not only us in Chivi, but the whole country, even throughout SADC and Africa at large,” he said.“I have travelled throughout the continent, but I have not yet seen anything like this. Coming to opportunities that the dam has brought to people of Chivi, Dr Maunganidze said, “The dam has brought cool weather. We are experiencing the rains even now in August all because of this dam,” he said.The tour was organised by ZTA led by its chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke. Herald